Ebola:The real reason my husband travelled to Nigeria-Patrick Sawyer's Wife
Patrick Sawyer's widow,Decontee Sawyer,a radio host in Newyork,has
reacted to reports by Liberian and Nigerians that he intentionally
travelled knowing he was infected with Ebola .The Liberian president
called his act reckless. However,she says he must have travelled because he wanted to get medical help here in Nigeria...She wrote this on her Facebook wall
Good day my Facebook friends and FAM. I hope all is well with you. Thank you
for all of your kind words and support for me and my family. You
strengthen me more than you realize.According to an article written on
Ava's birthday (August 10) by
Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times, "...in another Liberian
newspaper, The New Dawn, which cited footage from a security camera in
the airport in Monrovia, Mr. Sawyer behaved strangely as he waited for
his flight out of Liberia. He sat alone, avoiding physical contact with
people, including an immigration agent who tried to shake his hand, and
even lay flat on his stomach on the floor of a corridor of the airport,
the paper reported."
Continue...
“I’ve read other reports in other papers (not the New York Times) about
Patrick’s “recklessness.” I get where they’re coming from, and they
certainly have the right to feel the way they do. However, as Patrick’s
widow, I would like to shed some light on this from another perspective.
One that only I, his wife, would know,”“I knew Patrick better than
anybody else (including himself). He had told me many times in the past
how much he didn’t trust the Liberian healthcare system.
He would tell me about how a person would get checked in for one thing,
and get misdiagnosed and get the wrong treatment as a result. On top of
that, Patrick was a clean freak, and told me how filthy a lot of the
hospitals were.
“He didn’t tell me this, but I know in my heart of
hearts that Patrick was determined to get to Nigeria by all means
because he felt that Nigeria would be a place of refuge. He has
expressed to me many times in the past that he felt passionately about
helping to be a part of strengthening Liberia’s healthcare system, but he knew it wasn’t there yet, and he wouldn’t want to take a chance
with his life because a lot of people depended on him… Patrick had a
passion for life, and he wouldn’t have wanted his to end. So, I bet
anything that he was thinking, if I could only get to Nigeria, a way
more developed country than Liberia, I would be able to get some help.
How ironic.”
“It has been reported that Patrick avoided physical contact with
everyone he came across during his trip from Liberia to Nigeria. When he
got to Nigeria, he turned himself in letting them know that he had just
flown in from Liberia.
“Patrick went to Nigeria for help so that he can get properly diagnosed,
and not misdiagnosed in Liberia. And if it came back that he did have
Ebola, he trusted the Nigerian healthcare system a lot more than he
trusted the Liberian’s. His action, as off as it was, was a desperate
plea for help. Patrick didn’t want to die, and he thought his life would
be saved in Nigeria.”
She also slammed the Liberian President who declared Patrick's act as a reckless one
“I write today, not simply because of Patrick, but because of the broken healthcare system in the Liberia, and the government’s inability under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (and other past Presidents) to fix it. Good doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers aren’t given the support they need to save lives.
“President Sirleaf went on CNN News throwing stones at Patrick, a man
who can no longer defend himself, a man who worked tirelessly for
Liberia. She should be ashamed of herself. I use to admire this woman,
and was excited and proud of her accomplishment as the first woman
President in the entire continent of Africa. She will always own that.
We will always own that. It can’t be taken away from her. It’s something
to be proud of. But this woman has failed her country,”
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